I had a beautiful frame at home bought from a charity shop and I wanted to make a painting to suit it, which is a backwards way of doing things. Along the way I developed a new technique which I am now excited to develop further. I sold the painting within minutes of posting it on my Facebook page. This blog is to remind me how I got there.
I started riffing off the drawing of a tree, thinking a dark old fashioned looking painting would suit the frame. After several hours the image started morphing, the tree disappeared and the larger horse appeared. Layers of paint created depth. It took two days via an exhausted mini meltdown – me despairing at my lack of knowing as to what I was doing! However, the joy of being experimental is that the end result, if it works out, comes as a surprise and I am happy with the effect and I think it goes well with the frame, my initial intention.
The image reminds me of Victorian etchings and in particular the work of Gustav Dove, dare I be so bold. Wow, what a master of composition, drawing and imagination he was, with an unbelievably prolific output. It’s great when your own output gets you looking up a master.
Chalk and acrylic paint, ink, pencil, gold wax on hardboard
